Please Don't Tell
by Tajmoohal
Summary: Clarke Torry is an abused boy who receives a Hogwarts Letter. He runs away to the train, his only chance to escape his abusive parents and the horrible neighborhood children. After making it to Hogwarts, he becomes hesitant to stay due to being unable to adapt to the new environment and his constant fear holding him back. His roommates set out to fix their new broken friend.
1. Prologue: Jewel Stone Hierarchy

If you lived in Jewel Stone, a very closed community on the other side of Mulberry, you would know every resident as well as the hierarchy of it all. At the top you had the Davises; this family owned the largest home in the entire neighborhood which didn't make much sense since it consisted of a mere 3 people in the family. The family consisted of Kurt, Callie, and "little" Jessica. Kurt was a man of business who showed no mercy if it got in the way of closing a deal for his furniture company, Callie was the fierce but sweet housewife who enjoyed throwing parties for the neighborhood, and Jessica was the princess of her palace; whatever she said was obeyed. There were a few other families who were almost on the top of the community with the Davises such as the Bennetts, the Dawsons, the Fosters, and the Hamptons. After these large and powerful groups were the ones that made up most of the community, those who worked under the higher up families or who owned small businesses. For example, there were the Gutierrezes, which was a large hispanic family that had moved in from Spain when the youngest daughter, Jimena, was pregnant with her first child. The family consisted of the parents, their five children, four of the children's significant others, and then nine grandkids. Luciana, the mother, worked at a restaurant as a manager with her children, Ian and Jimena working there as servers; Santiago (the father) was an engineer, Hernan (the eldest son) was a mechanic, and Florencia was a librarian. The child who brought in the most money was Maria, the eldest girl, she worked as a surgeon at the nearest hospital. They made enough to live comfortably with extra money to spend, that was how all the households at their level were as well. The next to last was military homes, these ones never stayed for too long as they were constantly moving but many veterans and their spouses lived in the neighborhood, some even had kids; despite all that they had done for their country they weren't very high up in their society due to quite a few didn't have much money. The lowest, the dirt of the community were those who Davises and the other top families didn't approve of; families or people they found odd and didn't want their children to be around. Of course it was shown to these members of the communities by the rare invitations to parties and other community events. One such person was Clarke Torry, an eight year old boy that Jessica Davis had decided to loathe and shun.

Clarke Torry never really knew what caused Jessica to hate him, his best guess was he took much of Kaitlyn's attention. Jessica knew they were related and maybe she didn't like the fact her best friend was the half sister of him. Another possibility was that he had always been smarter than her since they started school at Mulberry Elementary School, in fact he was the top of his class and had knowledge that exceeded older children as well. Whatever it was, it made Jessica despise him with all she had and made her decide he deserved to be tormented by any children she could get on her side. Luckily for him, he had friends who detested Jessica as much as she detested him. Kaitlyn and four of her cousins were on his side, so was Benjamin Melikov, Clementine Jenkins, and Austin Ruskin. He was happy with the friends he had and was very grateful to not have lost them to Jessica's bribes. His closest ally was Kaitlyn who would fix him up whenever he was caught by himself by Jessica's posse, or even worse, if he became the outlet for his stepdad's anger.

When Clarke was five, his mother remarried a man by the name of Baldric man was tan, with burning dark eyes, gelled back dark blonde hair, who stood tall with the height of 6'5". Before Baldric, he lived with his mother and his father; they used to live in the house next to the Gutierrezes. From what he could remember, his dad was a goofball, he named him after Clark Kent, aka Superman. His dad was fun and as his mother occasionally describes him, a dork. He would dress him in anything relating to Superman and would even play being a villain so he could chase him around the house in his blue onesie with the red cape. He would always smell like pastries because he owned a bakery where he hired teenagers to work there. His name was Monroe. He was a silly man who he can only hope he will always remember. Baldric wasn't anything like his old dad, he was serious and demanding. The point his true nature of being a cruel and sadistic monster began to show was after Clarke entered kindergarten. He had come home with a letter from Mr. Bell, his wonderful teacher, who had sent it for his parents to know how brilliant their son was and suggest he get tested for one of the academies that were in the city. Baldric had been home before his mother, so he beaming gave it to him. The man read it, cigarette dangling from his mouth, when he was finished he held the paper out and took out his lighter from it's place in his pocket. He then lit the paper with the dancing flame. The child watched his horror as his prized letter burnt from his stepdad's actions. Soon once the flame got close his fingers, Baldric got up and threw the page in the sink, turning on the water to rinse away at the flames. He then threw the remains in the garbage and turned to face his stepson with a frown. "You think you're smart huh? Come here then smart aleck, why did I burn the letter?" he asked watching the little boy with the bright blue eyes and curly black hair shift feet nervously.

"I don't know..." was what Clarke mumbled. This earned him a slap across the face, the first of many he would receive starting that point forward.

"It's 'cause you are an idiot. You are not smart! Repeat with me, I'm an idiot." Baldric demanded. The boy shrunk back and whispered back what his stepdad wanted of him. Baldric nodded and pushed him towards the kitchen, "Now go clean the dishes, actually do the entire kitchen and then my living room. If you mention a word about that letter to your mother, I'll make sure you get bruises the size of Texas." he said before grabbing his keys and leaving.

From there it only became worse, he got a slap for annoying Baldric, then a punch if he made his mom mad, and finally a beating each time he somehow "defied" his stepfather. Eventually he just became the awful man's personal punching bag, something that he could vent out his anger on. His mother worried at first, but then she changed. She soon didn't care if he was bruised black and blue, she fell under the spell of Baldric Weisberg. She made a sudden shift and resembled him, Clarke became the house cleaner and would be the one who took care of the house. He was hardly allowed to hang out with his friends, except if his parents left town, he stayed with Kaitlyn then. That stopped as soon as he turned eight, because at that point he was deemed able to care for himself. He became fearful and he soon knew fear similar to how he knew Kaitlyn's house, by every detail. Fear smelt like urine, he used to pee his pants just after the beatings started, it only lead to more pain so he forced himself to stop. After urine stopped being the smell of fear it became alcohol and cigarette smoke. Fear was the blurry vision he ended up with when he was hit in the head too many times, it was the dark of being alone in his room, the taste of vomit when he threw up on the floor from being hit in the stomach, the sobbing all the hurt caused. He hated being scared, but he always was, it was his shadow.


	2. Chapter 1: Save Bush Boy

Clementine Jenkins, was one of the most cordial girls at Mulberry Elementary. She had great qualities to be a leader and while she might not be the smartest, she was definitely the most resourceful. These characteristics got her recommendations from her past teachers that got her into the leadership program at the Lawrence Middle School. She was one of the prettiest girls in her school, with her shoulder length straight blond hair, dark brown eyes, and beach tan. She was one of Clarke's best friends, and she was worried about going to middle school while leaving him behind. She was a sixth grader and he was hardly a second grader, for her it was critical that he had an ally at Jessica's favorite tormenting location. Kaitlyn was a 4th grader, Austin was in 6th grade with her, and Benjamin was a 3rd grader, which meant her diminutive and shy friend wouldn't have anyone with him for a year. One of her major traits was her ability to observe and because of this, she was the first to find out something was wrong with her friend.

The first thing she noticed was his flinching, whenever Austin or Kaitlyn became heated, he would flinch and bite his bottom lip. The second thing was how his usual sassy comments started to decline, before he would come out of his shell with his cheeky replies to whatever one of their group said but those soon diminished until he would only make one if one of them gave him a funny look. He also began to dissociate, she didn't realize that at first, but when Miss Seabrooke, her old second grade who she now shared with Clarke asked her about it. She was told he stopped answering questions in class and he was purposefully putting wrong answers on tests. She was worried his stepdad was being too rough, Kaitlyn and Benjamin had reported to her that Mr. Weisberg was rugged and rough, her Clarke was more sensitive and that would be an issue. Her fears were proven right and it became clear that the situation was worse than she had originally thought when he showed up to school with a black eye, a swollen lip, a limp and missing teeth. She knew Jessica teased him relentlessly with her little gang of high class brats, but they hadn't gotten to the point of beating on Clarke physically to the point he lost teeth and received a limp. She was the one to call a meeting at Kaitlyn's house to talk about what they could do to help Clarke.

Austin was the last to arrive, he had football practice which his mom always made him shower right after. He was the last to meet Clarke, and wasn't nearly as close to him as Clementine. Clarke's ardent behavior towards books was the opposite to Austin's vehement feeling to sports. He was much louder and enthusiastic compared to his shorter friend's quiet and soft nature. While he may not completely relate to the dork, he was his friend nevertheless. He sauntered up the cement sidewalk to the red brick steps and knocked. Instantly he was greeted with the scamper of several pairs of feet running to the oak door accompanied with arguing of who would answer it. Once the door opened, he was greeted with the faces of four of Kaitlyn's cousins: Aaron, Mia, Clara, and Sebastian. He waved at them and smiled. "Is your cousin Katie here?" he asked. The group giggled and Mia nodded, the four year old took his hand and tugged him inside.

"She's in her room, it's the second door on the left up the stairs. Clementine and Benny are already up there." Aaron, the oldest of the lot at 9 replied pointing him up the stairs. Austin bobbed his head and headed to the room. He took a seat on the brown rug of the room and gave a two finger salute to Clementine, along with the salutation of 'captain'. He waved at Kaitlyn, then at Benjamin, and finally at the four cousins who were sitting in a cluster on the bed. He liked Kaitlyn's family, five of the nine kids were on Clarke's side and really only one of them really weren't since the other three were too young to understand what it meant to be on one set side.

Clementine sat on the chair of Kaitlyn's computer desk, when Austin arrived and acknowledged her she shook her head and smiled. "Anyways, thank you Benjamin, Kaitlyn, Austin, Abigail, Samuel, Diego, and Kiara for coming to this last minute meeting. I'm sure you've realized that Clarke hasn't been himself lately. He's been moodier, quieter, he keeps dissociating, which before you ask Kiara, is when he disconnecting from reality so it's like daydreaming. Last week he had that black eye and the limp. I think Baldric is abusing him. I requested this meeting to talk about what we can do to help him." she explained making sure to make eye contact with each member of their unofficial club. Benjamin, a russian boy with light brown hair and dark brown eyes spoke up, his russian accent somewhat thick, "Being one of the higher families... I can get my parents to see if they'll take them on vacation." he suggested. Clementine gestured to Abigail, the older girl who had a shoulder length bob dyed a deep purple. Abigail jotted the idea down in her dark green notebook, her bangs falling in front of her coffee colored orbs.

"What about getting Clarke to sleepover more? We can make some excuse. Get him to come to help babysit the little ones?" Diego, the boy about nine, who looked identical to Aaron with short dark hair, caramel skin, and green eyes.

"You are a little one." Kiara, the younger girl of about 13 giggled. "I like his idea though, our second cousins are coming to stay for a while too remember Katie? Plus Sammy and Abby are going to America for a while so we'll need help. Plus almost everyone here loves Clarke." she added.

"Austin, aren't you going to hockey camp soon? And I'm going to ice skating so Begonia needs a sitter." Clementine interjected.

"This could work, he can't get beat up if he's never home." Kaitlyn replied smiling. She braided her long hair into a braid before standing up. "I need to go ask my mom and all the aunts and uncles if it's okay for him to stay to babysit." she announced before jogging down the steps. Clementine leaned back in the black office chair with a grin. She pulled out her phone to text Clarke to let him know of his babysitting schedule before sending a message to her mom about needing pickup.

 **I think I'll make one of these with just descriptions of the current characters, would that be helpful?**

 **Also thank you for reading!**


	3. Chapter 2: Letter Fiasco

The babysitting system did work for 6 months until summer came around the corner. That was when everyone left and Clarke had no physical escape, just his dissociation and his books to let him mentally avoid the beatings that were to come. Kaitlyn and her family all went to back to Spain for the entirety of the vacation and then stayed there for another year to catch up with family and give the children who hadn't been born there a sense of the culture. Austin had sport camps the entire summer: lacrosse, cricket, horse racing, tennis, and finally rugby camp. Clementine stayed in Mulberry for most of her summer other than leaving for band camp and church camp which only took up on month, the rest of it was taken up with babysitting Begonia and helping her with her learning of her fourth language, arabic, and helping at her dad's grocery store. For these months, Clarke was left alone with his stepdad and his mom when they weren't vacationing and living the high life. During his first summer after the babysitting system had been put into place, he suffered more than one concussion and broke three bones. He even started third grade with a broken arm. During the summer, Jessica only became more dreadful, she even got the new neighbors, four boys in 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 7th grade to help torment him. If it wasn't beatings from his resentful stepdad, he was being pummeled by Jessica's brutish gang. When his mom started to not just neglect him but also help physically hurt him he became depressed. He would drag himself out of bed each morning to eat a large bowl of cereal before scrubbing the kitchen clean, then he would move to the bathrooms before conquering the stains in the living room from the rage filled fit his stepdad had thrown while drunk as well as puke stains, afterwards he would move the the bedrooms to clean those. Once he was done with cleansing the house he would make his stepdad lunch and bike the hour to the city to drop it off before biking back. He would sleep for three hours before getting up to do a second check to make sure the house was completely spotless. Once he was done with his second round, he would start dinner and have it finished before his stepdad and mom got home. Depending on both of the adults moods, he would either take a plate of dinner to his room or go straight to sleep. By the end of summer, he was so tired he could hardly stay awake in class once it started.

It went on for two more years, two more lonesome and tired summers, two exhausting school years. The only difference was Maria, Kaitlyn's mother had gotten her psychologist friend to do an exam on Clarke who ended up giving him pills for depression and anxiety. He kept them hidden in fake book with a hole in the middle, a birthday present he had received for his 10th birthday. However, while the pills helped, they didn't fix everything for him. He believed that the only thing that would change his life is if he would die.

In the summer after his 11th birthday, something amazing happened. Before he left to bring lunch to his stepdad, an owl flew in the window he had left open to let in the cooler air from outside since the house didn't have air condition. The brown bird flew around the room carrying a letter and flew towards the 4'4", very thin, curly haired boy causing him to back up and hit his knees on the coffee table which lead to him falling. He watched the owl with wide blue eyes which had awe shining in them behind large neon orange glasses. The owl hooted before dropping the piece of rolled up paper on his chest and flying out the same way it came. Clarke sprung up scrambling to grab the letter. He then remembered he hadn't brought his stepfather's food and stuffed the piece of paper into his pocket before grabbing the packed lunch and beginning his journey to the city. After earning a scolding and smack for bring it late by 10 minutes, he hurried back home and up to his room. He whipped the scroll from his pocket and quickly untied the ribbon.

 _"Dear Mr. Torry,_

 _We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

 _Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July._

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Minerva McGonagall_

 _Deputy Headmistress"_ he read out loud stopping to double check he had read it properly before moving on the second page.

 _"HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_

 _UNIFORM_

 _First-year students will require:_

 _1\. Three sets of plain work robes (black)_

 _2\. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear_

 _3\. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)_

 _4\. One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)_

 _Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags._

 _COURSE BOOKS_

 _All students should have a copy of each of the following:_

 _The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)_

 _by Miranda Goshawk_

 _A History of Magic_

 _by Bathilda Bagshot_

 _Magical Theory_

 _by Adalbert Waffling_

 _A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration_

 _by Emeric Switch_

 _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_

 _by Phyllida Spore_

 _Magical Drafts and Potions_

 _by Arsenius Jigger_

 _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_

 _by Newt Scamander_

 _The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection_

 _by Quentin Trimble_

 _OTHER EQUIPMENT_

 _1 wand_

 _1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)_

 _1 set glass or crystal phials_

 _1 telescope_

 _1 set brass scales_

 _Students may also bring, if they desire, an owl OR a cat OR a toad._

 _PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS_

 _ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICK_

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Lucinda Thomsonicle-Pocus_

 _Chief Attendant of Witchcraft Provisions"_ he reread both pages twice before sighing and shoving the letter pages under his pillow. "This isn't real... I can't believe.. I.. I have to try. I don't know where to get all this stuff but maybe I can just go and they'll help me." he debated with himself as he glanced at the clock on his wooden nightstand. "Okay..." he muttered to himself as he got up and pulled the only suitcase he owned out of the bottom of his closet. He folded as many outfits as he could into it before zipping it up and leaning it against the wall in his closet.

He survived the next three months keeping the hope that the letter had provided in his thoughts. The day before he planned to leave he wrote a letter to each of his friends saying he was running away but that he would be okay. In each few pages to his friends he recalled memories and wrote thank you notes. He hand delivered each one to their mailboxes that morning. His last stop being Clementine's house since she was the closest to the train station. He had strapped the suitcase to bar between the seat and the handlebars praying that it wouldn't break before he got to the train station. When he did get there, he was so tired he could hardly breathe, his heart was pounding in his chest and he began coughing and wheezing. He tied his bike to one of the poles and secured it there before untying his suitcase and dragging it behind him towards platform nine. When he couldn't find the platform right away his shoulders began to shake as he started to sob. "I-I'm so dead... I-If I-I go back he's going to kill me.." he mumbled look around frantically, his vision blurring with tears as he settled by the column of the 9th platform and began to cry.


	4. Chapter 3: New Hope

Today was the most fantastic day of Eloise Nelson's life, her uncle Westley had made her pancakes for breakfast and had given her a few of his famous chocolate chip and apple muffins for the train ride. She had a purse of galleons along with one of sickles for snacks. She was even wearing her lucky socks which made her heart fly with joy. At now 11 years old, the beaming brunette was ready to start her classes at Hogwarts. She was going to make her Uncle Westley and his partner Uncle Hunter very proud by doing her best. As a pureblood witch, she knew a lot was expected of her but she didn't want to worry about that right now, now was for getting on the train and getting to the most amazing place on earth. As the bubbly brown eyed girl made her way to the platform she passed another child who was sitting by his suitcase crying. She quickly glanced at her watch before sashaying over to him. She knelt down and tapped his shoulder, "Hey kid, are you alright? Did you lose your parents?" she asked scanning the small boy and his one suitcase, she figured he was probably just a lost muggle boy. Clarke looked up startled and hurriedly wiped his eyes rubbing tears away furiously.

"I'm not here with my parents... I can't find my train." he responded hesitantly. Eloise smiled and held out her hand.

"Well let's go then, I can help you find it. I don't have to catch mine for another 10 minutes, plus if I do miss it my Uncle Westley can just take me to Hogwarts with the floo or something." she chirped. At the word Hogwarts, Clarke's sea blue eyes widened and he fumbled for the letter in his pockets. He then took hold of her hand and stood up with her before handing her his letter from Hogwarts. Eloise took it and read it, her grin only growing. "We're going to the same place then. Are you a muggleborn? That would make sense if you didn't know how to get to the platform. Okay so see that wall the one between this platform and platform 10? Run right into it, but you need to believe that you're going to get through!" she exclaimed. Clarke nodded meekly tightening the grip on the handle of his suitcase, he then ran straight into the wall with all his might and when he got to the other side he crashed into someone causing him to fall backwards. Eloise dashed in right behind him.

The boy he crashed into simply scoffed before walking off to join his friends somewhere else. Clarke quickly shot back up and gazed around the platform anxiously. "Oh I'm Elouise by the way, who are you?" Eloise asked skipping over to him holding a colorful hamster cage in her arms. "These are Skunk and Cherry, they're my hamsters. I know I'm technically not supposed to have hamsters but they're not that much different than a toad and I heard some others have brought rats or mice or even ferrets in the past." she rambled. Clarke turned back around to face her.

"I'm Clarke..." he mumbled starting to wander towards the train. She strided quickly after him.

"Not even a thank you? Why are you so quiet? Do you not like me?" she demanded. Clarke flinched at her harsher tone.

"N-No I-I'm sorry... I-I'm just not used to strangers.." he whispered shrinking back, his hands beginning to tremble out of fear. She swiftly softened when she became aware of Clarke's demeanor becoming fearful.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped. I just want us to be friends and you don't seem to like me." she explained pouting. A tiny smile appeared on Clarke's lips.

"It's okay... I'm just quiet but we can be friends if you want, just no yelling." he begged trailing after her to the train. They sat together at first but soon the brunette preteen was off and gone to join her other friends.

Clarke sat quietly alone in his seat, he propped himself up against the window and pulled a book out of his suitcase. He hadn't brought many only a few and his favorites, praying that they had a library there. The train had already began to move when someone else appeared at his compartment. This boy was tan with messy brown hair and joyful brown eyes he held a cage with his owl at his side pulling a large suitcase behind him. "Can I sit here?" he asked gesturing to the bench across from his. He nodded. The new boy walked in and put his suitcase on the rack above, setting his owl beside him on the crimson seat. "I'm Chris." he offered smiling. Clarke doubtfully set his book down and set up.

"I'm Clarke..." he replied looking at his owl curiously.

"This is Annabelle, she's a tawny owl. Did you bring a pet?" Chris asked. Clarke shook his head.

"No... I didn't get supplies either... I ran away to be here." he whispered glancing out the window. The brown haired boy smiled.

"Well then I can share some of my supplies with you. I need my books but I have extra ink and quills as well as parchment. I can give you one of my uniforms to you too, it will be too big but it's better than nothing." he declared getting his suitcase to pull everything he wanted to give to the shorter boy out. Once he was finished he sipped it back up and stuck it on top. He then went to work with putting away the other boy's stuff and lifting it up to sit on the rack above them. Clarke watched him with awe and confusion.

"You're being rather nice for not knowing me." he responded.

"I know you, you're Clarke remember?" Chris teased smiling.

For the rest of the train ride the two boys laughed, shared childhood memories, and ate sweets together. Despite Clarke being nervous about coming to Hogwarts, he was overjoyed he had left home for this. His new friend educated him about this new world without an issue and vocalised with hope how much he would like to be a Gryffindor like his dad was. The two quickly bonded and were soon the best of friends, it was like having his old group of friends again. He was hopeful for this new life and wished with all his heart for it to last

 **Sorry for the short chapter, I need breakfast**


	5. Chapter 4: The Feast

Clarke fell asleep after the first couple hours of the ride. He stayed softly snoring curled by the wall until Chris shook him awake gently. "Hey Clarke, get up. We're an hour away and some of the older kids are saying we should get dressed in our robes. C'mon." he urged softly. Clarke nodded meekly and sat up rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He cautiously picked up his uniform and hurried off to the bathroom stalls to change. With slight difficulty he changed from his plaid button up and black jeans to the robes Chris had given him. Diligently he changed before leaving hastily back to the compartment. "Hi, are you excited to finally get to Hogwarts?" Chris asked with a wide ear to ear grin. Clarke nodded excitedly, "Yeah, I can't wait for the sorting and learning spells." he chirped. The two boys then spent their last hour bubbling in their excitement.

Once they arrived they were separated by grades and first years were sent off with a teacher by the name of Professor Beckett, she was a tall woman with a long legs and an oval shaped head, her dark hair rolled down to her elbows and was pulled into a braid. She looked rather young to be a professor but despite her appearance she was almost in her 40s. She guided the 135 first years to the Great Hall. "Alright so I'll be calling your names and we'll place the sorting hat on your head which will sort you into either Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, or Slytherin. Then the Headmaster will give a short speech and everyone gets to eat." she explained smiling, her smile not reaching her dark eyes. The children trailed after her talking softly amongst themselves as they waited for the sorting ceremony to begin. Once everyone was sitting, an older student, came out carrying the hat and placed it on the stool beside Professor Beckett. "Okay, you may take it away." she said to the hat who seemed to smile before starting its song. It was much shorter than previous years but that may be due to how old it was at this point. The professor pulled out a list and began at the top, first was Sofia Abbey who became Slytherin, then it was Jacob Abraham who was sorted into Ravenclaw, and on it went until they finished with Barbara Yates. At the end of it all there were 38 Gryffindors, 28 Ravenclaws, 33 Hufflepuffs, and 36 Slytherins. Eloise Harper was sorted into Slytherin, Christopher Charles became a Gryffindor along with Clarke, who had to beg for his spot since he didn't want to be separated from his friend.

After the sorting ceremony came to a close, a old man with dark robes and a scowl stood up in his place as Professor Beckett came to sit down. "I am your headmaster, Professor Hilbert. I welcome our new first years and hope you thrive at our great school, and for our older years please guide your newest classmates to greatness. Now don't go into the Forbidden Forest for any reasons whatsoever. If I or any other professor hears about you going there, you will be severally punished. Curfew is at 11 o'clock and no later. You mustn't wander the halls or be in any other common room past that time, boys are never allowed in the girls' dorms and the same goes to the girls when it comes to the boys' dorms. I don't want to see any sort of romantic relationship between students because you are here to learn. I hope you all have a wonderful feast." he announced before sitting back down in his chair. With a clap from Professor Beckett, food appeared on each table and the feast began.

Clarke sat silently beside his friend, gazing at the food with awe shimmering in large shocked eyes. He watched everyone fly at the food snatching it up and stacking it tall on their plates. He didn't even reach for food at first, instead he kept his eyes on his trembling hands, they felt numb as he remembered a time from when he was a child of seven years old, he had taken food without permission as he was cooking. His mother had seen the act and grabbed his hand by his wrist, pinching the skin in her grip she then shoved his hand onto the burning stove top. He hadn't been able to move his hand for weeks and he had burn scars littering his palm. He stretched his fingers as he watched them in a daze. "Clarke, Clarkey?" Chris called shaking his friend's shoulder. Clarke quickly looked up at him.

"What..?" he responded in an out of it way.

"Are you okay? You looked freaked. You should eat." Chris chidded. He then began to take food and stick it on Clarke's plate for him.

"Wait, what are you doing?! I can pick my own food." Clarke insisted in a panic as his fellow Gryffindors looked their way. Chris sighed and stopped piling on food after dropping a chicken leg on the dish. Clarke gave him a reassuring smile before beginning to eat what had been stacked on his plate, he slipped the few sweets and finger foods into his robe pockets the moment he had a chance before continuing to eat.

As the duo ate their food alongside the other Gryffindor first years, an older girl approached them. She had a toffee colored skin covered in chocolate freckles, brown eyes with a reddish tint, and her most shocking feature was her bright crimson hair. She gave a small smile before holding out her hand, "Hello. I am Saffron Bishara, welcome to Gryffindor." she spoke with a very noticeable arabic accent. "Do any of you plan to join our quidditch team next year? We have three eighth years so we'll be losing them when they graduate. If you need more information about joining the team come to me-" she stopped herself to look for her teammates. "Give me a second," she laughed and ran off to drag 6 more people towards the first years. "Our team is Nellie she's a beater and a fourth year, then our other beater is Thomas, he's an seventh year. Our chasers are Faiyaz, he's a sixth year, Jackie, she's a 2nd year, and then me, I'm a 5th year. Our seeker is Iris, she's an seventh year. Finally we have Leonardo who is our keeper and our last seventh year." as she spoke she gestured to each member of the team. Nellie was a short and stocky girl, she had a round face and wore a pair of purple cateye glasses over deep gray eyes, she had long blonde hair that ran down to her waist. Thomas was the tallest of the bunch, he had rather long hair platinum blond for a boy that fell in poofy waves at his shoulder, he had green eyes and like Saffron, a face full of freckles. Faiyaz was darker than Saffron but not as dark as Iris, he had very short dark hair that was only an inch or two from his scalp, amber eyes, and a big smile as he greeted the firsties. Jackie was the smallest, even shorter than Nellie; she had honey colored skin, slanted dark brown eyes, and short straight black hair that barely went past her ears. Iris was the tallest girl and was only a head shorter than Thomas, she wore had a dark mass of curly hair streaked with bits of caramel here and there, blue-green eyes, and ears pierced with 4 earrings in each ear. Leonardo wasn't as pale as Nellie or Thomas but he was certainly close, he had dark eyes and reddish brown hair with bangs that covered one eye. There was a blend of different voices as they greeted the first years. When a few of the kids asked questions, they made sure to answer with confidence. Most of the first years who knew what quidditch was were surprised that a fifth year had landed the place of captain on the team.

Conversations continued until the feast ended, at which point the prefects of each house rounded up their first year housemates and lead them to their house dorms. Chris stayed close to Clarke as they followed their boy prefect to the boy dorms, from there the 19 boys were split into rooms with 5 of them in each. Luckily for them, the two friends got to stay together. It was late when they had gotten into their rooms, at least for Clarke it was. He grabbed his suitcase from the pile of the bags in the room and pulled his ugly brown bag to the bed furthest from the door. He placed it at the end and grabbed what he needed to get ready for bed before heading into the bathroom. There he brushed his teeth and changed into his pajamas, wincing as bandage moved when he stretched to put on his shirt. Once he was finished he quickly climbed into his claimed bed and succumbed to sleep.

As he slept his new roommates introduced themselves to one another. The boys other than Chris were Paul Robinson, Anthony Fletcher, and John Elliot. Paul was the most hyperactive of the bunch, the tan dark haired boy was full of ideas that made his brown eyes seem to shine at the thought of them. Anthony was the biggest daydreamer, he had mousy brown hair and bright amber eyes which always looked confused. John seemed serious at first but quickly turned out to be a bit of a jokester and one who like to tease, he was a ginger with brown eyes and no freckles. The trio came to like Chris almost immediately due to his laid back nature and his easy going personality. Clarke was a bit odd though, they hadn't expected him to fall asleep right away before even introducing himself, Chris had attempted to cover for him saying he was sick from the train ride and that excuse seemed to work. He hoped that his friend would be a little friendlier and be willing to introduce himself in the morning. As 11 o'clock came upon them, the remaining boys settled themselves at different beds and joined their shortest roommate in sleep.


	6. Chapter 5: Night Wandering

Clarke fell asleep after the first couple hours of the ride. He stayed softly snoring curled by the wall until Chris shook him awake gently. "Hey Clarke, get up. We're an hour away and some of the older kids are saying we should get dressed in our robes. C'mon." he urged softly. Clarke nodded meekly and sat up rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He cautiously picked up his uniform and hurried off to the bathroom stalls to change. With slight difficulty he changed from his plaid button up and black jeans to the robes Chris had given him. Diligently he changed before leaving hastily back to the compartment. "Hi, are you excited to finally get to Hogwarts?" Chris asked with a wide ear to ear grin. Clarke nodded excitedly, "Yeah, I can't wait for the sorting and learning spells." he chirped. The two boys then spent their last hour bubbling in their excitement.

Once they arrived they were separated by grades and first years were sent off with a teacher by the name of Professor Beckett, she was a tall woman with a long legs and an oval shaped head, her dark hair rolled down to her elbows and was pulled into a braid. She looked rather young to be a professor but despite her appearance she was almost in her 40s. She guided the 135 first years to the Great Hall. "Alright so I'll be calling your names and we'll place the sorting hat on your head which will sort you into either Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, or Slytherin. Then the Headmaster will give a short speech and everyone gets to eat." she explained smiling, her smile not reaching her dark eyes. The children trailed after her talking softly amongst themselves as they waited for the sorting ceremony to begin. Once everyone was sitting, an older student, came out carrying the hat and placed it on the stool beside Professor Beckett. "Okay, you may take it away." she said to the hat who seemed to smile before starting its song. It was much shorter than previous years but that may be due to how old it was at this point. The professor pulled out a list and began at the top, first was Sofia Abbey who became Slytherin, then it was Jacob Abraham who was sorted into Ravenclaw, and on it went until they finished with Barbara Yates. At the end of it all there were 38 Gryffindors, 28 Ravenclaws, 33 Hufflepuffs, and 36 Slytherins. Eloise Harper was sorted into Slytherin, Christopher Charles became a Gryffindor along with Clarke, who had to beg for his spot since he didn't want to be separated from his friend.

After the sorting ceremony came to a close, a old man with dark robes and a scowl stood up in his place as Professor Beckett came to sit down. "I am your headmaster, Professor Hilbert. I welcome our new first years and hope you thrive at our great school, and for our older years please guide your newest classmates to greatness. Now don't go into the Forbidden Forest for any reasons whatsoever. If I or any other professor hears about you going there, you will be severally punished. Curfew is at 11 o'clock and no later. You mustn't wander the halls or be in any other common room past that time, boys are never allowed in the girls' dorms and the same goes to the girls when it comes to the boys' dorms. I don't want to see any sort of romantic relationship between students because you are here to learn. I hope you all have a wonderful feast." he announced before sitting back down in his chair. With a clap from Professor Beckett, food appeared on each table and the feast began.

Clarke sat silently beside his friend, gazing at the food with awe shimmering in large shocked eyes. He watched everyone fly at the food snatching it up and stacking it tall on their plates. He didn't even reach for food at first, instead he kept his eyes on his trembling hands, they felt numb as he remembered a time from when he was a child of seven years old, he had taken food without permission as he was cooking. His mother had seen the act and grabbed his hand by his wrist, pinching the skin in her grip she then shoved his hand onto the burning stove top. He hadn't been able to move his hand for weeks and he had burn scars littering his palm. He stretched his fingers as he watched them in a daze. "Clarke, Clarkey?" Chris called shaking his friend's shoulder. Clarke quickly looked up at him.

"What..?" he responded in an out of it way.

"Are you okay? You looked freaked. You should eat." Chris chidded. He then began to take food and stick it on Clarke's plate for him.

"Wait, what are you doing?! I can pick my own food." Clarke insisted in a panic as his fellow Gryffindors looked their way. Chris sighed and stopped piling on food after dropping a chicken leg on the dish. Clarke gave him a reassuring smile before beginning to eat what had been stacked on his plate, he slipped the few sweets and finger foods into his robe pockets the moment he had a chance before continuing to eat.

As the duo ate their food alongside the other Gryffindor first years, an older girl approached them. She had a toffee colored skin covered in chocolate freckles, brown eyes with a reddish tint, and her most shocking feature was her bright crimson hair. She gave a small smile before holding out her hand, "Hello. I am Saffron Bishara, welcome to Gryffindor." she spoke with a very noticeable arabic accent. "Do any of you plan to join our quidditch team next year? We have three eighth years so we'll be losing them when they graduate. If you need more information about joining the team come to me-" she stopped herself to look for her teammates. "Give me a second," she laughed and ran off to drag 6 more people towards the first years. "Our team is Nellie she's a beater and a fourth year, then our other beater is Thomas, he's an seventh year. Our chasers are Faiyaz, he's a sixth year, Jackie, she's a 2nd year, and then me, I'm a 5th year. Our seeker is Iris, she's an seventh year. Finally we have Leonardo who is our keeper and our last seventh year." as she spoke she gestured to each member of the team. Nellie was a short and stocky girl, she had a round face and wore a pair of purple cateye glasses over deep gray eyes, she had long blonde hair that ran down to her waist. Thomas was the tallest of the bunch, he had rather long hair platinum blond for a boy that fell in poofy waves at his shoulder, he had green eyes and like Saffron, a face full of freckles. Faiyaz was darker than Saffron but not as dark as Iris, he had very short dark hair that was only an inch or two from his scalp, amber eyes, and a big smile as he greeted the firsties. Jackie was the smallest, even shorter than Nellie; she had honey colored skin, slanted dark brown eyes, and short straight black hair that barely went past her ears. Iris was the tallest girl and was only a head shorter than Thomas, she wore had a dark mass of curly hair streaked with bits of caramel here and there, blue-green eyes, and ears pierced with 4 earrings in each ear. Leonardo wasn't as pale as Nellie or Thomas but he was certainly close, he had dark eyes and reddish brown hair with bangs that covered one eye. There was a blend of different voices as they greeted the first years. When a few of the kids asked questions, they made sure to answer with confidence. Most of the first years who knew what quidditch was were surprised that a fifth year had landed the place of captain on the team.

Conversations continued until the feast ended, at which point the prefects of each house rounded up their first year housemates and lead them to their house dorms. Chris stayed close to Clarke as they followed their boy prefect to the boy dorms, from there the 19 boys were split into rooms with 5 of them in each. Luckily for them, the two friends got to stay together. It was late when they had gotten into their rooms, at least for Clarke it was. He grabbed his suitcase from the pile of the bags in the room and pulled his ugly brown bag to the bed furthest from the door. He placed it at the end and grabbed what he needed to get ready for bed before heading into the bathroom. There he brushed his teeth and changed into his pajamas, wincing as bandage moved when he stretched to put on his shirt. Once he was finished he quickly climbed into his claimed bed and succumbed to sleep.

As he slept his new roommates introduced themselves to one another. The boys other than Chris were Paul Robinson, Anthony Fletcher, and John Elliot. Paul was the most hyperactive of the bunch, the tan dark haired boy was full of ideas that made his brown eyes seem to shine at the thought of them. Anthony was the biggest daydreamer, he had mousy brown hair and bright amber eyes which always looked confused. John seemed serious at first but quickly turned out to be a bit of a jokester and one who like to tease, he was a ginger with brown eyes and no freckles. The trio came to like Chris almost immediately due to his laid back nature and his easy going personality. Clarke was a bit odd though, they hadn't expected him to fall asleep right away before even introducing himself, Chris had attempted to cover for him saying he was sick from the train ride and that excuse seemed to work. He hoped that his friend would be a little friendlier and be willing to introduce himself in the morning. As 11 o'clock came upon them, the remaining boys settled themselves at different beds and joined their shortest roommate in sleep.


	7. Chapter 6: First Morning

Paul Robinson was the oldest of his roommates, having turned 11 back in October of the year before. He had been very excited to start his first year at Hogwarts especially when he had found out his half blood cousin Anthony would be joining him. Anthony was the closet to his age of all his relatives including his siblings, he was also his favorite cousin. The two had spent the train ride sitting together along with some other pure blood children Paul knew. Being the friendly boy he was, when he met his roommates for the first time he went straight to asking them if they wanted to be friends. He liked John and Chris, they both seemed pretty chill at first impression. Chris was laid back and didn't mind taking whatever bed as long as he could be near their roommate Clarke. John was cool, he looked a bit like a guy who would wear leather jackets. While John did have a temper, he didn't get angry over the small things. Clarke, now he was a different story, while Paul wanted to like him it was hard to like someone who doesn't even say hi before passing out.

Paul was the first to wake up of the bunch. He made sure to head for the showers right away since he didn't want to not be able to take one, having six siblings taught him that he couldn't dawdle if he wanted a shower. By the time he got out, Clarke was up. The smaller boy was curled in his bed over his covers reading a book. "Hey I'm Paul!" the brown hair boy exclaimed. Clarke looked up from his book frightened from the sudden loud noise.

"Oh hi... I'm Clarke." he replied becoming shy. While he had become quick friends with Chris, he was rather shy around most people.

"So are you a half blood?" Paul questioned knowing this child couldn't be a pure blood since he didn't know him. It took Clarke a minute to remember what the term was referring to.

"I don't have magical parents." he responded softly, he regretted it when Paul's face turned into one of slight disgust and discomfort.

"So you're a muggle born, that sucks. Are your parents nice at least?" Paul asked. He didn't exactly love the idea of sharing a room with a muggleborn but he sucked it up and wiped the discomfort from his face with a smile once he realized it must of shown on his face since Clarke's gaze had become fearful and worried

"I guess so." Clarke replied trying to keep himself from sounding tense. He fidgeted in his seat as Paul had become quiet for a momemt.

"I'm going to wake up the others so they can meet you, we were all disappointed that you had fallen asleep right away." Paul commented. Clarke decided now would be the time to get out of bed to appear polite.

Paul went straight to Anthony to wake him up before shaking John awake. Once both of the others were up he went to introducing Clarke. "This is Clarke, our no longer mysterious roommate." he joked smiling at his own joke.

"I'm Anthony. I like your glasses." Anthony replied shaking his hand enthusiastically. "Are you going to eat breakfast with us?"

"Well.. M-Maybe..?" Clarke mumbled shifting his feet.

"Hey, I'm John. Just don't mess with my cat and we'll get along fine." John said looking over at the black cat who was asleep on his bed. Clarke nodded meekly. At the mention of the cat, Anthony lit up.

"I have a cat too, his name is Milo." he said smiling and grabbing the fat tabby from off his pillow. "Did you bring a pet?"

"No... I need to shower." Clarke responded quietly walking over to his suitcase and grabbing his towel, soap, shampoo, and his robes for school. He hurried over to the boys' showers. When he saw how full they were he left swiftly headed back to the room.

When he had come back, Anthony and John were getting ready to hit the showers. "Hey Clarke, did you not take a shower?" Anthony asked noticing Clarke's hair was completely dry.

"Um no.. too many people." he mumbled scurrying to his suitcase to put his shower things. He went to the dorm's half bathroom to change into his robes and straighten up. While he was changing, the others were struggling to get Chris out of bed, after Clarke came back out they tried to get him to help. He laughed watching Chris pull the blankets over his head in protest to getting up.

"C'mon get up Chris, we will leave you." Paul warned. Chris grumbled and sat up in bed, his brown hair sticking out in odd angles. He went with Anthony and John to the showers. John and Chris finished before Anthony. As they waited for their last roommate to finish getting ready for the day, the boys chatted about their classes and discussed the rumors they knew about teachers, Paul and Chris knowing the most.

Once Anthony was done, the five boys began their journey to the Great Hall for breakfast. As they were leaving the very comfortable red and gold room, they were stopped by a man. This man was tall with short gray hair and a full beard, he wore red robes and had a large white owl perched on his shoulder. "Hello, I am Professor Perkins. I am your house head which basically means I'm in charge of you. Now before you go to breakfast I want to lay out the rules for all the first years." he announced, raising his voice. Any other first years in the Common Room looked up, their attention on the Professor. "Alice, go get any first year girls up who are still sleeping, Vanessa, go find any first years who are in the Great Hall, and Thomas grab any boy first years who are still in their dorms." he ordered three different students who had been hanging around in the Common Room. Ten minutes later, the three students came trotting back in with younger students trailing behind them. "Alright, hello everyone. I am Professor Perkins, your house head which means I'm in charge of you." he repeated now that all his 38 first years were back. "Being in Gryffindor means that the sorting hat looked into your souls and knew you were brave, courageous, and most of all chivalrous. As Gryffindor students you represent our house, what you do reflects all of us. I have seven rules you **must** follow. Rule number one, bullying is not tolerated, ever. Brave and courageous people stand up for those who are bullied we do not bully ourselves. Rule number two, I don't care what you heard about Slytherin and Gryffindor rivalry, we do not participate. We don't prank or gang up on any Slytherins, be their rivals in your grades prove we are not just the house of chivalrous people but also very smart people. Rule number three, don't skip class, I will know if you do and you will get detention. Rule number four, if you are in trouble find a higher year Gryffindor, they will help you and when you are second years i expect you to help the first years of next year. Rule number five, you are expected to make your beds at the very least, while Hogwarts does have house elves to clean we do not take advantage of them. Rule number six, if one of your classmates or if you know anyone who is in trouble tell me or another teacher. Rule number seven, you guys are family for the next seven years, respect and help each other. Now you may go for breakfast. I will see you all down there soon." he concluded.

After being dismissed the first years dispersed either heading downstairs for breakfast or to their rooms to get ready so they could join their classmates for their first meal of the day. The five boys: John, Paul, Chris, Clarke and Anthony were quick to go to breakfast and once downstairs happily sat down together. This was the start of a friendship, a hopefully strong and long lasting one. Soon almost all the kids had made it downstairs to eat by eight thirty in the morning.


	8. Chapter 7: Shopping Adventures

The five boys were done with breakfast twenty minutes before they had to be in their potions class. Once they were finished they went back to their room to grab their books for any classes they had before lunch. Clarke went to class with no books but he did have parchment, ink, and quills that had been given to him by Chris. Their first class was with the Slytherins causing them to have over 70 kids in the class. The children quickly paired off into seats, Gryffindors staying with Gryffindors and Slytherins staying with Slytherins for the most part. Eloise had hustled Clarke into the seat next to her, looking very excited to see him again. "Hey, you remember me right?" she teased smiling. Her bright smile was contagious and Clarke soon found himself smiling with her.

"No not yet," he countered with a barely noticeable smirk. Eloise laughed at that.

"I didn't know you were cheeky. You seemed scared of your shadow yesterday." she joked.

Their professor walked in not long after. This teacher had short honey blond hair that fell just above her ears. She had a thin face with high cheek bones and a small nose accompanied with small lips. "I am Vera Petrov but you will call me Professor Petrov, I will be your potions teacher for the rest of your time here. To teach you how to properly brew potions you must listen to me." she asserted with a strong Russian accent. "Now I want you to pull out your books and show me your cauldrons."

As soon as the words left her mouth, kids began to dig through their bags for the necessary supplies. The only one who did not move an inch was Clarke, and this was noticed by the teacher. "Gryffindor boy by the Slytherin girl in the second row, what is your name?" she asked though it sounded more like a demand. Clarke froze and began to become even more frightened as more attention was put on him.

"C-Clarke Torry ma'am.." he mumbled softly.

"Mister Torry, why aren't you taking out any supplies?" Professor Petrov inquired looked unamused as if Clarke was playing a joke she didn't find funny.

"I don't have any ma'am." Clarke replied softly looking even more flustered as more of his peers' eyes fell on him.

"And why not, did your parents not take you to Diagon Alley?" she questioned raising an eyebrow at the pink faced child.

"N-No ma'am.." Clarke whispered breaking eye contact with her to look at the floor. Professor Petrov sighed.

"Talk quietly amongst yourselves, Mister Torry come with me." she ordered already marching out of the room before he had a chance to get up. Before going to Professor Holbert's office, she stopped at the classroom next door to ask if that professor could watch her class.

Once that was settled, she went directly to the Headmaster's office. To get in she said the password, "Matilda Claire," which was the name of the old man's daughter. "Vincent, this child has none of the required supplies, maybe he's not even magical. He could have gotten on the train by chance." she suggested looking horrified at the thought. At these words, Professor Hilbert stood up and walked over to Clarke.

"Who might you be?" he asked gazing down at the child as he towered over him.

"C-Clarke Torry s-sir..." Clarke stuttered looking terrified that he was in trouble. The professor's eyes twinkled at hearing his name.

"No no Vera, he's Monroe's child. He must be, they have the same dark curly hair and the same eyes." Professor Hilbert argued against the statement that Clarke was probably a muggle. "How is your father doing child?" he asked, becoming excited to hear the answer.

"H-He died a long time ago s-sir.." Clarke mumbled beginning to anxiously pick at the skin on his fingers. Professor's Hilbert's face fell at the news. He had like Monroe Torry, he had been a bright student with such an interest in the muggle world; he would always pester the muggle borns and half bloods. He had been full of curiosity and was constantly trying to invent things infused with magic for the muggles.

"I am so sorry Clarke." he comforted in a soft tone. "Your father was a great man." he Confused in hopes to bring some comfort to the boy. "Did your mother not take you to Diagon Alley?" he asked kneeling to get on the child's height level. Clarke shook his head meekly. Professor Hilbert gave a small smile, "We'll fix that don't you worry. I'll have Professor Perkins take you straight away. I'll even provide the money for your supplies." he declared. With that, he stood up and sent an owl to the Gryffindor head of house telling him to come to his office.

Within a few minutes, Professor Perkins appeared in the fireplace. "What seems to be the problem?" he asked as he stepped out of the fireplace and walked towards the trio. "Am I-" he began to say before the Headmaster interrupted him.

"Vera, you may go back to your class thank you for making me aware of this." Professor Hilbert acknowledged before sending her on her way. "Now Carson, I want you to take Clarke here to Diagon Alley. It seems like he hasn't been taken for supplies because we assumed his father was still around to help him," he explained to the other professor before handing him a bag of galleons.

Professor Perkins lead Clarke over to the fireplace and handed him some floo powder. "So what you do is say Diagon Alley and throw it on the ground." he divulged keeping an eye on him as he placed him inside the fireplace. Clarke nodded and did as he was told, appearing in the backyard of Diagon Alley. Professor Perkins soon followed him, from there they went straight for Ollivanders.

Ollivanders' small size made Clarke claustrophobic due to it reminded him of being locked in his rather small room. When he got there with the professor, the pair sauntered over to the desk and Professor Perkins tapped the rusty bell that sat on top of the dusty desk. Very quickly, the owner of the shop came out of the back. He gave a confused and slightly surprised look when he was greeted by the known Hogwarts professor with a student in tow. "To what do I owe the pleasure Mr. Perkins?" he asked. This man wasn't very tall, with brown hair slicked back and a goatee.

"It's Professor Perkins to you still Oliver," he scolded with a smile. "Where is your aunt?"

"Oh out and about I think, so what can I help you with?" the young man asked.

"This is Clarke Torry, he didn't come this summer to buy supplies so Professor Hilbert asked me to take him." Professor Perkins explained gently pushing Clarke in front of him.

"Ah, I see." Oliver said giving Clarke a quick look over before going to the back. He grabbed a box from there are brought it back over to him. "Alder wood with unicorn hair 9 and a half inches." he described handing it to him. Clarke took the wand cautiously and gave it a small swish. Sparks emerged from the wand and the entire room was taken over by flowers that filled every nook and cranny in the shop. Oliver took away the wand and jogged to the back. He put away the alder wand and pulled another one off the shelf and brought it back to Clarke. The child took the wand and swished it like he had with the other, sparks flew out of it in the shape of small birds which flew around the room before disappearing. "Birch wood with Phoenix feather core, 10 inches. That is your wand." he remarked. Clarke smiled at the stick of wood and then at the man who sold it to him. Professor Perkins paid for it and then the pair left to buy school books.

Buying the school books as well as the as the quills, parchment, cauldron, and ink was relatively quick. As the pair sauntered down the streets to the various shops, Professor Perkins attempted to strike up a conversation. "How come your parents didn't take you shopping for this stuff?" he questioned shifting the bags from his left to his right hand in order to open the door for the shop where they were going to buy Clarke's robes.

"I didn't ask." Clarke mumbled as he trailed after his teacher into the store.

"Why not?" Professor Perkins asked. Clarke bit the inside of his cheek trying to come up with the proper response.

"Carson! I didn't know I would be seeing you again, especially after school started. How is Lyra?" the shop owner greeted. This woman was a stout and pudgy woman. She was shaped like a plum. Her face consisted of rosy cheeks, smiling eyes, and a large grin. She hugged the professor and pulled back to give him another smile. "What are you doing here? You're usually teaching Muggle Studies at this time." she clucked.

"I have a student who was neglected his trip to Diagon Alley. You're one of our last stops of the day." Professor Perkins remarked with a smile.

"Oh I'm sure he's tired now, you always rush the students. Come along dear, we'll get you fitted with the proper robes. Do you have any dress robes, since you're a muggleborn I guess not. I'll make you some, maybe a periwinkle blue to bring out your eyes." the plump woman commented as she lead him to a still and pulled out her measuring tape. "I'm Mrs. Harper by the way, what's your name?" she queried as she went to work collecting Clarke's measurements. Within minutes she was finished and sending her needles which we infused with magic to stitch together the necessary patterns. "The dress robes won't be done today I'm afraid, but I'll send them to you." she promised the small boy.

Originally, Professor Hilbert hadn't given Professor Perkins enough money for him to get a pet along with all the supplies that it would need, but Professor Perkins believed strongly that Clarke should get a pet so he planned to buy it for Clarke himself. While the child was getting measured, he slipped another fifteen galleons into the leather pouch to make it seem like he was just using the money the headmaster had handed him. As Professor Perkins and Clarke were leaving, Clarke turned back to the woman who had made his robes especially for him since he had been too small to fit into pre-made ones. "I'm Clarke Torry, thank you for the robes Mrs. Harper." he said giving her a small grateful smile before running off with his teacher.

"We have one last store to go to," Professor Perkins told his student as he lead him to the pet store. Clarke nodded and followed after him, looking curious about where they were to go next seeing as how he now owned all the necessary supplies. The teacher kept a smirk on his face as they walked side by side. When they finally arrived, Clarke had followed his mentor in quietly and cautiously, but it took very little time for his doubt to disappear after he walked inside.

Cece's Spectacular Pet Boutique was brightly colored with tall orange walls, a yellow ceiling, and blue tiled floors. The walls were decorated with small paintings of individual animals ranging from cats to dogs and even to tigers. Lights with ever changing colored bulbs were attached to the walls making pale tints of blue and greens cover different sections of the store. It was organized with food being far in the back along with bags of bedding for cages and any available toys, all the animals were pushed to the front closer to the entrance. In many tanks were fish, turtles, snakes, and lizards all separated by species. Large play pens on the floor held the puppies and kittens with older ones being in cages along with walls or in little glass rooms along with all their toys and beds. Owls were in different parts of the store resting on perches that hung from the ceilings. The place left Clarke awestruck and standing there with large wide eyes and an excited grin.

The first thing Clarke checked out was the dogs, he always wanted a dog when he was younger but after always being told he couldn't have one by Baldric, he stopped asking. He picked up a small puffy looking puppy held it up to show Professor Perkins. "I think this one is cute but I could never bring it home, my parents hate pets." he sighed gently scratching the brown scruff ball's head beforehand setting it down and earning a sad whimper from the puppy.

"I'll buy it and you can see if our groundskeeper will be willing to care for it over the summer. Dogs aren't usually allowed at Hogwarts but we have had some in the past. They just can't cause too much destruction." Professor Perkins divulged picking up the puppy and giving it back to Clarke. Without protest he took the puppy and hugged it closely cradling it to his chest. The teacher smiled and went to the desk to pay. "Hello, we would like this one," he said pointing to the puppy who was now attacking Clarke's face with kisses.

Cece was a former student of Hogwarts, at now 21, the alumni Hufflepuff had used her talents to open up a store in Diagon Alley dedicated to selling pets not only to wizards and witches but also Muggles. Seeing her former professor she grinned and jumped over her desk to hug him, "Professors Perkins! It's so good to see you. I saw Professor Petrov and Professor Williams already and I think I spotted Professor Taylor last month as well." she reported with a smile. "That's a good puppy, kind of shy and really calm. I've been calling her Tulip." she said smiling at Clarke. The eleven year old smiled back and buried his nose in the little dog's fur. Cece held a finger up to them and used a levitation spell to bring all the dog supplies to her. "A bed, a dog crate, a leash, some treats, six months worth of food, bowls for food and water, and of course toys." she counted off as she listed the items and rung them up along with the price of the puppy. "20 galleons is the price," she told Clarke. Professor Perkins handed her the fifteen in the bags before pulling out the other five from his pocket. Cece thanked the pair as they left beforehand rushing to the back after hearing a crash come from it.

When they finished buying Tulip, the teacher and the first year took another floo back to Hogwarts and arrived back just before lunch. Clarke thanked Professor Perkins for the trip and with his help put all his things in his room. The moment he got to lunch his roommates practically pounced at him wanting to hear what had happened to him after he had been dragged away by Professor Petrov. He spent the rest of the day repeating the story of his shopping adventure and staying in such a good mood he had to pinch himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming.


	9. Chapter 8: Back Home Again

The days between the beginning of school and Christmas break seemed to go by much too quickly for Clarke. He had two vastly different opinions on what he should do when Christmas Break finally came around. His first idea was to go home and stay with Kaitlyn or even with Ben, while he hated living in his own home he knew his muggle friends deserved and explaination on his disappearance back in September, which had been two months ago. The other opinion, the safer option, was to stay here over break and maybe send letters to his friends if he was able. Even if all his roommates, Eloise, and other friends went home he would still have Tulip to keep him company. In the end, he went with his first choice, to go home and pray that his parents weren't there.

Clarke wasn't the only one to go home out of his roommates, Chris and John both ended up going home as well leaving Paul and Anthony to spend the holidays in the castle. Chris was going home and then having family from all over Europe stay with them over break. John was heading to Florida in order to spend time with his aunt, uncle and his cousins for a while since his pants had left to track down some things for their work earlier that month. Paul and Anthony decided to stay home to avoid having to spend time with their grandparents who hated the fact that Anthony was half blood; they used the excuse of wanting to study and get further ahead in school as a way to stay.

Before Clarke left with his friends he picked up Tulip, "Would you be able to take care of her?" he asked Paul and Anthony looking terrified that the pair would say no. If they did, he could sneak her back and keep her in his room but if she barked she would get discovered and he didn't want to think what Baldric might do to her in such a case. Paul and Anthony knew terrified looks on their friend weren't sparse since he always looked frightened of everything, but they hadn't seen one this scared before. Personally, Anthony wasn't much of a dog person and initially didn't like Tulip because he was worried she would attack Milo. Paul on the other hand, loved her and if Clarke wasn't playing or cuddling with her, he would be the one replacing him.

"Of course we'll watch her Clarke! She's so cute and cuddly and she loves kisses." he rambled taking the puppy from Clarke and hugging her. "She'll be in good hands." he added nuzzling her face. Tulip barked happily and enthusiastically licked his nose in response. Clarke laughed and hugged them both. He then kissed Tulip on the head and tucked her little stuff animal manatee in the crook of Paul's elbow.

"Thank you! I would love to bring her home but I can't... my parents didn't want me to have a dog." he admitted sheepishly scratching Tulip under the chin. "I should go, I can't miss the train." he said giving Tulip one more scratch behind the ears before he left with John and Chris to catch the Hogwarts Express.

The train ride home was filled with new excitement due to Eloise having Clarke sit with her and some of her other friends. She had dragged Clarke to the compartment and hand him sit in the seat across from her. "So Clarke, these are some of my other friends. I have Francine, she's the one next to you and as you can see she's a Slytherin like me but she's a third year. Next to her is Patrick, he's a Ravenclaw and a first year like us. Then beside me are my hamster whom you have met, and next to them is Olive who a Hufflepuff first year." Eloise introduced each person to Clarke with a smile. Francine had long dark hair that was pulled into a high ponytail, her features were all sharp and her face was completely symmetrical, dark moss green eyes carried a bit of a smug look that made it seem as if she knew all the secrets of the world and refused to share them. Patrick looked a little bit like a stereotypical Ravenclaw, with a potions textbook settled in his hand and an ambitious look held in light brown eyes, he had tawny bangs and a round face still carrying baby fat. Olive was a pretty girl with a heart shaped face, deep blue eyes, and copper hair held into two messy braids, she kept a chestnut colored cat settled in her lap.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all," Clarke greeted quietly leaning back in his chair. He spent the rest of the ride commenting in conversations between the four other students. When an hour before arrival was announced by the teacher who was escorting them home, Clarke's nerves began to act up. He wasn't just anxious to get home for good and bad reasons, he was petrified. To rest his nerves he picked up a book from the suitcase he had packed to go back home for a while, he hasn't filled it much with clothes since he was planning to take more from his house. Books had always soothed him when he was anxious, they let him mentally disappear from the world and lose himself in another. He kept himself curled in his seat, knees pulled to his chest, book resting on top of them as he read.

An hour passed in almost no time and suddenly was time for Clarke to somehow get home. He hadn't asked for a ride, but now it was probably too late. He trailed after Eloise off the train. Eloise found her uncles almost right away, her uncle Westley was a wizard like her and had come from a pure blood family, the Chandlers. Unlike what she was doing now, her uncle did not attend Hogwarts but instead Ilvermorny and was a former Pukwudgie. Her father had been adopted by the Chandlers. Originally he had lived in Japan and attended Mahoutokoro School of Magic. When he was 13, his family was killed by their rivals and he was put into a protection program as well as foster case for magical children. While the Chandlers had been visiting the school, they met him and decided to adopt and bring him back to be a caretaker for their six year old son. The set up worked nicely for them, when Barney Chandler died, her father had been there to comfort Westley and keep him safe. Her father became a big brother for Westley and while their mother was at work, her father would care for him. When he father was 17 he met a girl from another wizarding family, Leona Michael. The two ended up having a child and Leona dropped the baby off at her father's doorstep before disappearing. Eloise didn't grow up with a mom but she had her dad and her uncle and that was enough. When her father died, her uncle at the age of 19 took her in. He raised the six year old girl on his own for two years before he met Hunter Dillons. Hunter was a muggle who worked near Eloise's school and had become infatuated with Westley over the years. The pair dated for another two years before getting married last year.

Eloise greeted her uncles with tight hugs and a large smile. She introduced Clarke to her them. "Uncle Westley, Uncle Hunter this is my friend Clarke. He's a first year like me." she described. Clarke waved. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the train leave, making it clear he couldn't go back now. He gave a small sigh before plastering on a meek smile.

"Do.. Do you know how much a taxi would cost to get to Mulberry?" he asked softly. At the question the man known as Uncle Westley's smile turned into a concerned frown.

"Are your parents not picking you up? Let us drop you off. We pass by it anyways." he insisted. His partner took Eloise's bag and began to walk to their car which was parked not too far away in the muggle parking lot. Clarke knew this was an offer he couldn't pass up and followed quickly behind him.

The car ride home was quick and before he knew it, Clarke was outside his front door. His mother's car was home which made him nervous, but he couldn't back down and give them Kaitlyn's address now he could only hope his once caring mother was in a good mood. He thanked his friend and her uncles for the ride before going to the front door of his little beige house and traipse inside. This was it... he was home.


	10. Chapter 9: Where Did You Go?

The second the door he went up to his room, he closed the door and went to the window to lock it. With no lock on his door, this and sitting in his closet were his only security and defense against his parents. He didn't regret coming home yet, but he knew the moment Baldric got home and realized he was back he would. The room smelt like he remembered it, lavender and the ocean, candles that Clementine had set up. She would always come over to help him light them when he didn't come to school, the smells calmed him when he felt two seconds away from a panic attack. He could leave today before Baldric returned from work and go visit her and everyone else; he wanted them to see him before he received bruises and welts.

With hesitation he left the safety of his room and left through the back door. His first stop would be Clementine, with her being the furthest and out of the neighborhood he was safest there. He checked the garage for his bike, forgetting that he had left at the train station months ago. When it wasn't there he went off to Kaitlyn's house to ask to borrow a bike. He knocked on the door and held his breath, he hadn't seen his half sister in almost two years seeing as how she only came back recently with her family. He stood quietly looking at the wooden door wondering if he should just leave. Just as he was about to go, the door was answered. The woman who opened the door was slim with bronze skin and long auburn hair that was tied into a loose bun on the top of her head. Brown eyes watched Clarke with recognition which showed on her face through a large smile. "Clarke! It's been ages since you stopped by how have you been? Your mom said that you were off at some school in America, what are you doing back?" she questioned hugging him tightly, her heels clicking when she approached him. It took Clarke a moment to realize who this girl was, he knew it wasn't one of Kaitlyn's aunts meaning it had to be one of her cousins.

"Abby..? You look so different.." he mumbled hugging her back.

"I dyed my hair and got a tan, plus growing another four inches helped." Abigail joked. "When did you get back in town?"

"Today. Is Kaitlyn here?" Clarke asked hesitantly beginning to wonder if his half sister would even want to see him after his abrupt disappearance.

"Yeah, come in. I'll go get her for you. She's in the backyard working on her football routine with Sam and Diego." Abby offered as she headed to the backyard.

Kaitlyn now thirteen, had grown to be quite tall especially to Clarke at 5'5". Her hair was shorter and now pulled into a tight ponytail. A fiery determination was held in her eyes as she dashed between her cousins to get the ball she was kicking in the netless goal. Clarke watched her with a smile, she had always loved football and it was about time she got a chance to really get into it, when she was younger there were too many older siblings living in the house who needed their parents' attention to pick out their next destination after high school and too many little kids who always wanted the attention. Despite Kaitlyn being an only child, she wasn't to get the attention that usually came with it because her mother worked so much meaning she was raised as if she and her now twelve cousins were siblings. "Kaitlyn, there's someone here to see you." Abby announced. Kaitlyn ignored her at first but Sam and Diego didn't. The boys stopped the game to look over at their cousin and couldn't believe their eyes when they saw the short boy beside her.

"Clarke!" they yelled gaining Kaitlyn's attention. She turned her sight towards Abby and Clarke, and began to cry the moment she saw her curly haired half brother. In a few quick moments, she was beside him and hugging him with all her might sobbing as a sense of relief fell over her. Sam grabbed his cell phone to take a picture of the moment knowing his Aunt Maria would want to see it.

"Where have you been?!" Kaitlyn cried tightening her grip on Clarke.

"I'll tell you in your room." Clarke whispered, his mouth suddenly dry. He had been anxious to see his friend and strongest ally but he hadn't realized just how nervous. He had explaining to do and he wanted to make sure to make every second with her and all his other first friends count. Kaitlyn agreed and dashed upstairs with him to finally get a chance to know what had happened to him in these past months that had filled her with an intense worry and grueling fear that her friend was dead.

Everyone in the Gutierrez household knew about the disappearance of Clarke and how much it had affected Kaitlyn. She had opened the letter from him on the same day Clarke had left for Hogwarts. Letters weren't private in the house due to having a large family which always meant everything is everyone's business. The letter had been taken from the mailbox around one o'clock and opened an hour later when Kaitlyn got home to do so. At first she skipped reading it believing her friend to simply have sent her some secret message in their old secret language, something they used to do when they were much younger. She didn't actually open it until after Clementine called her house to ask if she too had received a frightening goodbye note from Clarke. When she heard that, she tore it open and ran upstairs to read it in piece.

 _"Dear Katie,_

 _I am sorry to tell you that we might not be seeing each other anymore. When you open this I'll be long gone, I was invited to attend a school far away. I have run away to be there. I wanted to thank you for being such a good friend but I didn't have the time or courage to do it in person so here it is in this letter. Thank you for bandaging me up every time something with Baldric or Mum occurred. You always understood I didn't like to talk about it because then it would finally feel real and not like some bad dream. You were always on my side even if I was being silly. You put so much effort to help me and care for me. You gave me a place to stay when my home was deemed unsafe because of the abuse and you never asked me if I was okay if you knew I wasn't. You would just hold me and watch movies with me._

 _You were my first friend and you haven't left. I can't stay. I can't bare it anymore. I know you want me to be strong, but I can't. It's too much. I hope to see you again soon. Take care of Ben he forgets to care for himself sometimes._

 _You're loving brother and friend_

 _Clarke"_

The letters caused their own chaos for each friend. When it sunk in, Kaitlyn fell into a state of constant declining. While Clarke hadn't been around very often the last couple years, before she could always go to his house to see him because he was always there. She lost her security blanket when he up and left from her life. The rest of her family was also affected by it, her cousins who had grown up around Clarke and those who were on his side fell into a state of paranoia over what might happen to them. Abby had proposed the idea he could be dead a month in.

Clementine's grades declined for a short while because she had been too busy, especially in the first week trying to figure out where Clarke was. Her teachers became worried when her As dropped to Cs, and it didn't take long for her pompous parents to send her to live with her uncle, Ryan, so he could straighten her out. He became a bit like a therapist for her and after the first month got her back on track. The hurt and concern for Clarke, never left though and it lurked in her mind.

Austin got into more fights. His guess about what happened to his friend was that he had been killed by his parents and they wrote the letters so the kids would keep quiet about the abuse. He couldn't stand knowing his friend was abused and his parents might have killed him, so he almost blew the secret more than once and was only able to be shut up by Clementine. The disappearance caused all the friends to fight more and he would especially go after Ben.

Ben spent his time with the adults, he would hang more around his parents so he could find out if they knew something about Clarke's disappearance. When he wasn't with them he was with Kaitlyn trying to pull her out of her depression. He would try to assure her that it would be okay or he would just hold her and let her cry. When Austin picked fights with him he would simply attempt to shove him away. He would often go to Clarke's house and play nice with his parents asking them about how they were holding up and offering his family's support.

Each child handled it differently when he disappeared, but when he came back they all did the same thing: they would hug him or cry and ask where he's been. They held a meeting the same day he got back, this time at the part instead of Kaitlyn's house. It wasn't much of a discussion as it was playing with Clarke and talking to him about what has been happening.

It was a good day for Clarke, he went back home with a smile and with promises to write once he got back to school. It stayed a good day until Baldric got home.


	11. Chapter 10: Baldric's Fun

The moment Clarke snuck through the front door and closed it behind him, his mother appeared. She walked briskly out of the kitchen and hit him across the face, manicured nails scratching his cheek. "Where have you been?!" she demanded, her voice sounded a little hoarse as if she had been crying. "I was so worried when you left? Where did you go?" she continued to beg pulling her son into a hug. Clarke could hardly believe his mother was in a good mood, especially considering he was gone for three months. The bliss didn't last long, his mother's smile and hug turned into a frown and a suffocating grip, "Go to the kitchen, now." she hissed letting go of him only to grab him by the ear and drag him to the kitchen. "The moment your father gets home, you'll regret ever trying to leave, you selfish brat." she growled before hurrying away to tell Baldric about Clarke's arrival.

Clarke did the dishes as he waited to hear the thud of Baldric's heavy footsteps along with the slam of the front door. As an hour passed, he fell into an anxious state. He wished that he would just come and get it over with that way his mind would stop coming up with worst case scenarios. It was in moments like these when Clarke wondered to himself why he hadn't made a will of some sort of at least goodbye letters for his friends. He continued to clean plates and cups as he thought about what his will might look like, he would give away all the important things to his friends: Kaitlyn would get his notebooks, his photographs, and Tulip if her mom would let her keep the small dog, Austin would receive his Star Wars merchandise since he had been the one to get him into it along with the basketball he had bought him for Christmas two years ago, he wanted Clementine to have his camera and the candles she gave him, Ben would get his invention notebook, he would leave his old stuff animals to Begonia since she had always been so fun to babysit for, Chris could have his books and Tulip if Kaitlyn couldn't have her, Eloise could have back all the sketchbooks and pens she had given him despite his insistence that he couldn't draw, Lastly, Paul and Anthony and John, he wasn't sure what to give them to tell the truth. As he thought about his will and what gifts he would leave for everyone, Baldric stomped into the kitchen without him noticing. Within moments he was only the floor, his arm about to be snapped by Baldric.

Baldric smirked down at him, he looked amused with Clarke's wide eyed expression caused from the shock of being thrown down suddenly. "Well if it isn't my long lost stepson, are you really so stupid you came back?" he sneered. "Olivia, honey, can you bring me my toolbox?" he called towards the living room. A smile of glee stretched across his face when the black metal box was set beside him. He placed a knee on Clarke's chest to keep him still as he turned away to open his toolbox. As Baldric took out different instruments and laid them on the white tile floor, Clarke tried to figure out what his step-father was planning. While Baldric had various objects to hit Clarke with, he had never brought out his toolbox. Baldric pressed Clarke's arm against the floor with one hand and picked up his hammer with the other. He then proceeded to bring the tool down to his son's arm with full force. The pain was excruciating, it reminded Clarke of when he had his hand pressed against the stove top for the first time. He began to sob as the hammer was brought back to his arm for a second time, and then a third, and a fourth. He didn't dare try to lift his arm knowing it would only cause more pain if he even had the ability to do so.

"Did that hurt you?" Baldric laughed standing up. He made sure to step on Clarke's arm as he walked to the other end of the kitchen to look for more things to use against his stepson. In a few moments, he was back hovering over Clarke with a cheese grater. "Lookie here, remember this?" he asked shoving the metal grater in his face. At the sight of the grater, Clarke tried to push himself off the floor and run off to his room or to Kaitlyn's house. Baldric cackled at his pathetic attempt grabbing Clarke by the shoulder. "You can't leave just yet. You haven't gotten all of your punishment." he taunted as he tugged Clarke over to a drawer in order to take a pair of scissors from it. With the scissors, he cut the back of Clarke's shirt off, squeezing his broken arm every time he made a motion to escape. Once the back of the shirt was sliced apart, he began to run the cheese grater along Clarke's back. He kept at it until Clarke fell to floor, sobbing, bleeding, and in raging pain. Watching Clarke cry and look close to fainting pleased him, it always did, and once he was pleased he stopped. "Clean yourself up and get out of my house, I don't want to see you for the rest of the night." he demanded pulling him up by his hair and tossing him out the front door.

Clarke could hardly stay awake, his arm was beginning to feel numb, and the pain in his back was agonizing. He got halfway to up Kaitlyn's driveway before he collapsed. He didn't own a phone so there was no way to tell her he needed help, all he could do was sleep.

Maria Gutierrez began to pull into her driveway only five minutes later, the moment her headlights fell on the bleeding child in her driveway she went into doctor mode. She swiftly turned off her car and took off her coat. She wrapped him tightly in the coat, trying to slow to bleeding. With ease, she carried him inside and set him on the open couch in the living room. "Jimena, grab my bag from my room," she ordered her youngest sister who watched her with shock as she hurried in the room. Jimena ran up the stairs to retrieve the medical bag that Maria kept under her bed. "Ian call 911, move the kids upstairs" she commanded looking over at her older brother as she continued to work to stop the bleeding. Ian did as he was told, reporting that they had a child with a shredded back and a broken arm. In ten minutes, Maria wrapped up Clarke's back and a few minutes later an ambulance arrived. It took 20 minutes to get Clarke to the hospital.


	12. Chapter 11: Wanda Thompson

Wanda Thompson had been working at the muggle hospital, Grace Lyle Hospital, for just about a decade. Back when she was younger, she had been a Slytherin at Hogwarts. She wasn't as talented as her parents used to hope for, but she did have a way with medicine and spells for healing. After she graduated from Hogwarts she went into muggle medicine and not too long after she became a nurse at Grace Lyle Hospital. For years she used her magic to help patient in subtle ways; whether it be relieving them of their pain or helping them fall asleep.

Three years into her career, her old professor and house head, Professor Beckett approached her asking for a favor. The professor knew Wanda had a special way with sensing when someone was or wasn't a muggle; so she asked her to keep an eye out for any magical students and to report them back to her along with their injuries. Wanda had agreed back then, for the most part when she did see Hogwarts students they would be in for a broken arm from falling from a tree or some other common childhood injury.

Over last decade she had only seen a handful of magical children with serious injuries. Two of the kids were victims in different car crashes, one had died. Another had been beaten into a coma by a parent and was sent away after the news reached the Wizarding world. One had been saved from a burning building, and the last had been another abuse victim, Zoe Parker died at the age of 14 after her heart gave out after being hit with a car by her mother. Losing Zoe and the car crash victim, Robert Harrison, had caused doubt to form towards the Wizarding Ministry. Wanda had sent word about the victims right away but no one came to help her heal the children and due to their negligence they died. She knew Professor Beckett doubted them as well so any news she passed along was taken straight to the Headmaster.

When Clarke Torry came in, brought in with a shredded back and an arm so bruised and broken that she wondered if he could move it, she almost missed that he was a wizard. His magic was so faint it sparked fear in her heart. As the boy was rushed away for x-rays and to calm the bleeding she approached the family who brought him in. One woman she recognized as a pediatric surgeon, so she walked over to her with a notepad in hand to take down the child's information. "Hello Dr. Gutierrez, I don't know if you know me but I'm Wanda Thompson. Dr. Nelson asked me to get the information of the boy to notify his parents-" before she could say more she was interrupted by a young girl who looked horrified at the suggestion.

"You can't call his parents. They're the ones who did this!" she demanded. Wanda nodded and agreed before trying a different angle to get what she needed to send to Professor Beckett.

"I won't call his parents. I need to know about him so we can provide him the best care." she tried glancing from the girl to Dr. Gutierrez.

"You can't make such accusations!" Dr. Gutierrez scolded resting a hand on the teen's shoulder. She then turned her attention back to Wanda with a sigh. "His name is Clarke Torry. He turned 11 this spring. His blood type is AB. I don't know how he ended up so injured but he needs help. My daughter and I will be waiting here to hear any news about his recovery." she explained gently guiding Kaitlyn over to the chairs.

"Alright, thank you," Wanda replied before going to find one of her friends who had gotten a closer look at the boy as she had been one of the people to help bandage him. "Amanda, I need some information about the patient you just handled. I'm gathering all the details for Nelson." she lied knowing using the name of Dr. Jessie Nelson was the best way to get people to comply without questions.

Amanda Casper had been Wanda's friend for the last five years and while she didn't know what Wanda was gathering information for, she knew it wasn't to pass it on to Nelson. "What do you have?" she asked trying to catch a glimpse of the notes Wanda held on to so tightly.

"His name, age, and blood type," Wanda sighed.

"He has black curly hair, freckles on his cheeks and nose, and blue eyes. He is about 4'6" but possibly a few inches shorter and about 60 pounds. His injuries are a shredded back which might sound crazy... but either this is an intense road burn or someone ran a cheese grater on his back.. he also has a broken arm which is broken in several places. He has old scars and some cuts that seem recently healed. His x-rays showed that he has probably broken bones in the past but he doesn't have a medical record other than coming in around age five after getting a burn from a stove top." Amanda explained watching as her friend jotted everything she said down. "Do-" she began to say before she was interrupted by a quick goodbye from Wanda before she dashed away.

From there Wanda went to the abandoned morgue, walking as quickly as she could without getting questioned by someone else. Once there she unlocked the door with an old spell she had learned back at Hogwarts. Within ten minutes she finished writing a letter to Professor Beckett describing the child and his injuries, and tying it to her owl. "Make sure to hurry Barnaby. I'll be back before I leave to pick you up to go home." she told the barn owl as she knotted the ribbon to his leg. She gave a small sigh as she watched the owl fly out the window and disappear into the night. After he left her sight, she left the room and locked the door behind her before heading back to the main part of the hospital. All she could do now was hope the boy didn't die before the letter reached her old professor.


	13. Chapter 12: Arrangements

Professor Beckett had been sitting in the library when Barnaby arrived. The owl's appearance had been an unpleasant surprise, seeing as how she didn't receive a letter from her former student unless a child was in danger. She watched the bird as it flew through the front door of the library and landed on the chair across from her. With a sigh of discontent, she untied the ribbon from Barnaby's leg and shooed him away to the Owlery. Before daring to open the letter, she gathered the few books that she had stacked on the stand beside her and headed back to her office. Once inside she gently opened the letter and began to read the contents inside.

 _"Dear Professor Beckett,_

 _I have come across another magical child. Like Zoe Parker, I fear this boy may be being abused. Please for his sake, don't let him end up like her. His name is Clarke Torry, he has black, curly hair and blue eyes. He stands at about 4'4" and is underweight. The most concerning thing was his lack of a magical aura, he had one but it was almost too faint to catch. His injuries are a heavily broken arm and severe scrapping on his back. He was brought in by a doctor at the hospital named Maria Gutierrez and her daughter. When I asked for information so I could contact his parents, the child panicked. She proclaimed that his parents were abusing him before being shushed by her mother. I know Dr. Gutierrez personally, she is not one to brush aside an allegation of abuse. Is there a chance one of the boy's parents obliviated her? Please take good care of him, I will keep him here and make sure he doesn't miss the train back to Hogwarts._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Wanda Thompson_

 _Nurse at Grace Lyle Hospital"_

Professor Beckett knew of Clarke, not well but enough. He was a student in her charms class, who couldn't seem to do any of the correct motions or even produce enough magic to perform at a sufficient level. She wasn't incredibly harsh but his lack of talent did annoy her to no end, and she made sure Perkins knew it. In a quick moment, she folded back up the sensitive letter and headed to Professor Perkins office, knowing it would be useless to try and contact the headmaster over break since he would be busy spending time with his family. "Carson, we need to talk." she stated closing the door behind him. "You remember Zoe Parker? The Ravenclaw who we lost five years ago due to abuse?" she asked watching her peer confirm his answer with a nod.

"She had been a very sweet girl, it was a shame we didn't help her," he sighed

"We can help now. One of your boys, he's in a similar situation. I have a contact at Grace Lyle Hospital, it's a muggle facility. One of my former students has worked there as a nurse for a decade and she tells me about magical students with serious injuries," Professor Beckett explained handing him the letter.

"Miranda, who is-" Carson began to ask before reading the letter quickly, "I had suspicions about his home life after Professor Hilbert had me take him shopping for supplies. One of his roommates told me he only changes in the half bathroom and he doesn't shower with the others, I was hoping maybe he was just shy... but this confirms my theory of abuse. I don't think he should take the train back, it'll pose too many questions if he shows up with a cast. We can make an excuse for him that he missed the train and a teacher was sent to pick him up," he suggested.

"You knew you had a possibly abused child?! Why didn't you say anything?! If this boy hadn't been taken to _that_ hospital, we wouldn't have known! We could have had another Zoe Parker except this one would have only had a few months to live freely. Zoe had four and half years of freedom, this boy hasn't even had a chance to live!" Miranda shouted glaring at her friend and college. "Zoe Parker's death devastated the entire school, your boy might not be as popular as she was but he still is significant!"

"I know Miranda, I know. But Professor Hilbert always says we can't mess with the muggles without Ministry approval, I was trying to bring him enough information so I could have a quick positive answer back. It was wrong, but we don't have time to argue. We need to start making plans to have him brought back now so he can heal and be ready for when the other students come back," Carson concluded.

"Fine, I'll talk to Beatrice, you just make sure you pick him and bring him back here. Don't you dare question him over there or I will bring an entire world of hurt against you," Miranda threatened before turning and slamming the door on her way out.

Carson Perkins sighed and began to think out his plan to rescue Clarke Creed.

Miranda Beckett expeditiously marched up the stairs and to the infirmary. She knocked on the door, her fist sounding just as angry as she felt about the whole situation. After the second knock, the door was pushed open by Beatrice Gaudette, the matron of Hogwart. "Miranda? What are you doing here?" she asked stepping out into the hall after giving a final glance to her only patient who was resting in her bed.

"We have an abused student, Carson is arranging for him to come here if it's alright with you. He thinks it would be unwise for him to come back on the train especially if there's a chance he'll be forced to miss it," Miranda replied.

"Of course he can come here, I'll prepare a bed in my office. I want him to be close to me so I can monitor his mental and physical state before the other children return. I do want you to be aware that if he does need more time to heal, I will not release him the moment the other kids get back. I want him to be healthy, and getting there isn't always a quick process. I will go get the bed ready now, I expect him to be here by tomorrow since there isn't much of break left," Beatrice informed. Miranda nodded and wished the nurse a goodnight. Afterwards she headed to the owlry to find Barnaby, as she walked to the top of the tower she had a quill scroll down a note on parchment for Wanda explaining the plan to retrieve the boy tomorrow. Once Barnaby was on his way, all she could do left was go back to her room and sleep.


	14. Chapter 13: Help Him

By the end of Christmas Break, Clarke was moved, healed, and released to go back to living with his dorm mates once more. While he was allowed to go back to blending in with the other Hogwarts students, he wasn't able to escape from having to check in once a week with Madam Gaudette despite his many protests that such checkups wouldn't be necessary. In the end, he didn't mind them too much as long as no one knew about the abuse or the checkups except for the few teachers who to his despise already knew every gory detail of his childhood.

Beatrice Gaudette and Carson Perkins were known to argue, they'd been arguing since their days as students; and everyone who had parents who had attended hogwarts the same year as those two knew it. John Elliott was one of those students, seeing as how he knew every story from his parents' days as a Hufflepuff and a Ravenclaw. As he walked to the infirmary to have his broken nose caused by playing rough on the train, he heard the pair arguing. He stopped when he heard his friend's name thrown into the conversation and stayed outside the door listening.

"His friends should know, with their help we could keep a better eye on him!"

"Clarke has already expressed he doesn't want that, we should respect his wishes, Beatrice."

"Look here Carson, that little boy needs help. He _needs_ love and support and we both know he isn't going to get that at home."

"He said no, we shouldn't tell them. It would be disrespectful to disregard his wants."

"He's being abused! In this situation he needs help! I am his nurse, I've seen that child cry and panic over simple questions. I will tell his friends whether he likes it or not!"

It was only after the comment of abuse, did John walk in. "There aren't many other kids named Clarke, are you guys talking about Clarke Torry? You wouldn't be discussing this if he wasn't in the Gryffindor house so it has to be him, he's the only Clarke in my house," he concluded. "Is what you're saying true? Is he being abused?"

"Now John, it's not that-" Professor Perkins began to say before Madam Gaudette interrupted him and shooed him out of the infirmary.

"It's true, you're John Elliott right? You brought your roommate Paul in once," she confirmed. "I want you to go grab your roommates, tell them I need to speak with all of you."

John nodded and with a dash he was gone and heading up to his room. It took him eight minutes to get from the infirmary to his room, and to his relief all his roommates except Clarke were there, performing some silly spell in their room that Paul and Anthony had read about over break. "Guys, follow me," he ordered without any explanation. At the statement the three boys looked over at him, confusion evident on their faces.

"What are you ordering now, you bloke?" Paul laughed.

"I'm serious, it's important. It's about Clarke," John confided with a frown. Chris focused completely on him and stood up.

"Is it about why he wasn't on the train? Is he okay?" he asked, panic rising in his tone. He was always the closest to their friend out of his roommates and was often teased for having a crush on him by said roommates.

"I- Well.. It's better if you just come with me. Madam Gaudette said she would explain..." John muttered to him, glancing over at the other two.

"Is he hurt?" Anthony questioned, concern obvious.

"Just c'mon," John advised rushing to the infirmary with the rest of the boys.

Once they arrived, Madam Gaudette shuffled them to her office and closed the door. Within less than a hour, she told the boys everything she knew about their friend, from when the abuse started to the day he arrived back over Christmas break. She laid photos of Clarke's injuries on the table and sighed before beginning to reveal Clarke's personal life to them. "Your friend has a hard home life. And I'm going to tell you everything because I don't want you boys badgering him about it later... He's been abused since he was six from what I understand, and it started with his stepfather. That man used to just be cruel to him with words but he's changed and now he's gotten his mother involved in it too. They've hurt him more ways than he wants to remember since he was eight. The most recent time was over break, his stepfather took a hammer to his arm and a cheese grater to his back. He's been staying here since then and he only started getting out of bed at the end of break. Your head of house, didn't want me to tell you but he needs help from you, not just teachers. He is having mental trouble as any child in this situation would, and teachers won't cut it for help, to heal he needs his friends' support. I want you guys to report to me if you notice any changes in him and I want you guys to keep an eye on him okay?" At the end of her initial explanation, she answered the boys questions and assured them them that Clarke was doing fine and was no longer hurt. By the end of it all, Paul was raging and pacing the room wondering why Clarke never told them, Anthony was following him attempting to calm his cousin down, John was sitting beside Chris and rubbing his back because he knew no other way to try and comfort him, and Chris was in complete shock. Chris didn't blame Clarke; he blamed himself for not connecting the pieces and he was furious with himself for never seeing that he was in trouble.

After the talk with Madam Gaudette, the boys went back to their room and devised a plan to help Clarke.


	15. Chapter 14: Explosion

At first, sneaking around their friend was easy. Clarke wasn't aware of the meeting that had occurred between the group and Madam Gaudette...at least at first, but three months after the initial meeting, he found out and every bit of frustration he had held back over the years came out at once. He didn't mean to stumble upon the conversation between his friends, but coming back from the library almost twenty minutes earlier than he was expected was the cause for the discovery. As he approached the door he was able to hear the exchanging of words between his friends; and the his surprise he was the topic of it all.

"Have you ever noticed that Clarke always looks sad, it's like his resting; what's that phrase Paisley uses?" Paul asked tossing an orange ball against the wall to catch it again.

"Resting bitch face?" John suggested, "I guess I see it too, if he's not paying attention and keeping his emotions in check with the conversations and such he looks naturally sad.."

"I think he looks tired more often than sad." Anthony interjected with a sigh.

"It doesn't matter how he looks; we shouldn't be discussing something so useless... We're supposed to have these discussions to figure out how to help him!" Chris shouted, tossing his pillow at John.

"Throwing a tantrum doesn't help," John grumbled rolling his eyes.

"How about you shut it?! Clarke needs help and we're bloody useless! How have we helped him?!" Chris yelled standing up and marching to the door to leave. When he opened it, he was greeted by a shocked expression decorating Clarke's face.

"Who told you?!" Clarke screamed walking into the room and slamming the door behind him. " _Who the fuck gave you the right to know about shit?!"_ he shouted glaring at the group. When Chris went to try and explain, he held up a finger to him to tell him to shut up. "I can't believe this! She told you didn't you?! Madam Gaudette went behind my back and told you..! This! This is why I didn't tell you, you're having meetings behind my back to discuss **my** mental health something you shouldn't even be concerned with!" as he shouted he clenched and unclenched his fists, digging nails into his palms. "How long have you known?!" he hissed.

"About three months.." John trailed off.

"We have every right to know. you're our roommate, you're our friend! We deserve to know if we should worry that our friend might not come back next vacation!" Paul snapped returning Clarke's stare.

"You don't have any right, you may be my friends; but how long have you known me? Not even a year! You don't need to concern yourselves with what's going on in my personal life!" Clarke howled back, his shoulders beginning to shake as each word that left his mouth.

"That's not fair! You are important to us, you're important to _me!_ " Chris said, his voice not nearly as angry or powerful as Paul's or Clarke's. "You don't get to decide what we should or shouldn't know, especially something this important..." he trailed off trying to use a soft voice to try and calm the other two down.

"No, don't you dare do that...! Don't look at me with pity and treat me like some scared rabbit," Clarke bawled, close to tears. He then stomped over towards his chest and set the books in his arms down on it before running out of the room for air.

He ran, he couldn't stay there. He felt too cornered and that he was put in the spotlight much too quickly. Before the others could catch up to him, he dashed into the closest room and slammed the door behind him. Once inside, he looked around before settling on a dresser in the middle of the back wall and climbing inside it to hide. He closed the oak doors and pulled his knees to his chest giving a deep shaky breath. Within a few minutes, all the tears he had held back while yelling at his friends spilled out all at once. He couldn't believe he had shouted at his friends and he was terrified by how much he felt like he sounded like Baldric. He tried to choke back sobs for several minutes before giving up and openly sobbing into his knees.

As soon as he ran out the door, Chris chased after him. He stayed close behind him until he suddenly lost him as he ran into a door and it disappeared. Despite the setback with the door, he continued to run through the halls shouting for his friend; his other roommates trailing behind him. They continued to shout and stomp through the halls, until they were stopped by their herbology teacher: Professor Kenton. The professor put their search to a halt and herded them into his classroom. "Now.. Mr. Elliott, Mr. Fletcher, Mr. Robinson, and Mr. Lyle.. why are you shouting through the halls like madmen?" he asked looking down at the students.

"We're looking for Clarke, he got mad and he ran off and we can't find him," Anthony explained quickly.

"He gets really upset after getting mad, we need to find him," Chris insisted frowning.

"I persona-" Paul began to say before being shushed by John.

"We just want to make sure he's okay," John added.

"You boys should leave him be, he probably needs time to calm down and if he doesn't want to be found he should be left to himself," Professor Kenton decided. "Do you understand?" he asked, waiting for confirmation from his students.

"Yes, but he was swallowed by the Room of Requirement.." Chris tried to protest, earning him a glare from his teacher.

"That definitely means you should leave him alone. The student is Clarke Torry right? I'll tell the Headmaster he won't be in classes for the rest of the day. You boys head to your next lesson. Go on," Professor Kenton ordered holding the door open for them to watch them leave.

Defeated, the boys left to go to their next lesson as commanded to do so. None of them paid much attention to the lesson, Chris especially unfocused as he tried to decide what to do next about his friend. Throughout the lesson, he wrote out a plan on a piece of parchment. John talked quietly with Paul trying to calm him down and get him to shut up about how unnecessary Clarke's explosion was. Anthony doodled on his parchment trying to keep himself from worrying too much about his friend. After the rest of their lessons and dinner, the boys went back to their room to find Clarke asleep in his bed curled up to Tulip.


	16. Chapter 15: Train Travels

The next few years dragged on for Clarke and while he was able to keep his secret from the entirety of the school it did him no good when it came to trying to gain his freedom from his parents. Every time he tries to confront the Headmaster about the issue, he was told that the Headmaster was busy. The couple times he was actually able to speak with him were by far the most devastating; because each of these times he sad told it wasn't allowed by the ministry and that the muggle police had to be the ones to handle it. By his fourth year, Clarke Torry was done with being given excuses for why he had to stay with his family every summer, so he took control of his life and ran away for good.

He first hopped the train to the city and from there he went to his friend's house. He had been to Chris' home once the year before during Christmas break. While he was there, he slept most of the time and didn't have a chance to meet his parents since he went back to his muggle friends the next morning. He now only could hope he would get away with his plan to go back without getting into any trouble. The train ride was two hours and by the end of it, he was antsy to find his dear friend. Once he arrived at the station, he got out and sat at a bench inside the building. He then pulled a small, red notebook from his backpack and wrote in it, " _Chris, I'm at the_ _station near your house. Please come get me, I have forgotten your address. Signed Clarke"_

The notebook had been a gift from John, who to try and help Clarke thought it would be good for him to have a way to vent his feelings. While Clarke was happy for it, he didn't use it so much for venting but rather to send messages to his roommates. As a present to his friends, he enchanted 6 quills and handed them out to John, Paul, Anthony, Chris, and Eloise before keeping the last one for himself. These quills gave them a way to send messages and receive an almost immediate response. The day after Clarke handed out the quills, Eloise went out and bought 5 notebooks to give to Clarke's roommates and keep one for herself so they would all stay connected. By writing the name of the person at the beginning of the message and then signing your name at the end, the messages were able to get to the right people.

Chris had been sitting in his room when his notebook began to glow after receiving Clarke's message. When he finished reading it he gave a little chuckle at the stubbornness of his "friend" as he imagined all the trouble he probably went through to find him. " _Clarke, I'll be there in ten minutes. Signed Chris"._ Once he wrote his response, he marched off to his dad's office to ask for a ride to the station. "Dad, one of my friends from school wants to come over, I forgot to ask but he's already at the station and he can't go back because it's such a long ride." he explained to his father.

Steve Lyle was a bit of a peculiar man who invented for a living. All day he would be holed up in his office, trying to find the best way to make things easier living in the muggle world. When his son walked in and spoke, he looked up from his latest invention. "Well.. alright. But you need to apologize to your mother for not asking first," and with that he grabbed his coat and went to the car with his son. He parked in the parking lot, "I want you to text me as soon as you find your friend. I'll pull up to the entrance and then we'll head home." he told his son and leaned back in his chair to read the latest paper of the Daily Prophet.

Chris was quick to run inside and it didn't take him long to find Clarke, thanks to his friend's curly hair that peaked over the tall bench frames. He jogged over to him and grabbed his shoulders with a shout to scare him. As he expected, Clarke gave a small shout and turned around quickly hitting him in the face. "Chris! I'm so sorry..! But it really was your fault for scaring me," he scolded with a pout. Chris laughed and grabbed Clarke's bag off the bench.

"Let's go you dweeb," Chris said a smile. With Clarke following close behind, he walked towards the front of the train station. As they walked, he sent a text to his father and by the time they got outside, his father's black Sudan. The pair climbed in the back and buckled up.

"So, Chris who is your friend?" Steve asked as he began to drive home.

"Oh um.. I'm Clarke. I'm one of Chris' roommates," Clarke mumbled.

"I'm Steve, Chris' dad. It's nice to meet you." From there the rest if the car ride was silent. After arriving back at the Lyle Household, the boys hurried upstairs to Chris' room. The moment the door closed, Chris hugged Clarke and sighed.

"I love that you're here but... seriously a bit of warning would be nice. Are you okay? Why are you here?" he questioned in a panic.

"I...I just can't stay there.. it's not fair! I keep getting pushed back there, I'm not allowed to defend myself at all with magic and the Headmaster is completely insistent that I stay there!" Clarke yelled, "I ran away... I couldn't stay there anymore.."

"Oh... Well maybe I can see if you can stay here. If not... well maybe you can stay if they say no anyways. I can hide you if I need to. I don't want you on the streets or something like that," Chris iinsisted. He pulled his friend into another hug and gave him a smile. "It will be okay, I promise."


	17. Chapter 16: Library Cuddles

"You're the best.. it's such a lame compliment but it's true. Without you and the others everything would be so much harder.." Clarke sniffled burying his face in Chris' neck. Chris smiled and rubbed his friend's back.

"Now let's make a deal, you put on one of those big dorky smiles and I will give you a tour of my house," Chris suggested. Clarke laughed, his cheeks becoming a pale pink as he did. "There it is!" Chris exclaimed poking Clarke's cheek before taking his hand. He brought him throughout the entire house showing him every drab bedroom and elegant bathroom. Once he was finished with those he brought Clarke to the kitchen. "Personally, this is my favorite room. It's full of food. But, I have a room I think you will love," he said bringing Clarke to the west side of the first floor. He then opened the large wooden double doors, revealing a quaint and charming library.

The library was drenched in blue and bronze. The couches were a deep blue, the walls were periwinkle with dark cherry wood shelves pushed against the walls, almost reaching the white ceiling. Each shelf, bronze and full of books, to the point where some were resting on top of others. Large tree shaped lamps, each with 5 bulbs of soft golf light stood next to each of the bronze shelves, smaller more simple lamps with ivory shades sat on little table that sat beside the 2 larger of the 4 couches. Clarke's heart stopped, as it did for every library he came across because then he was opened to a new world full of new knowledge. He looked from the library to Chris and back again before hugging Chris and running inside. The first thing he picked up, was a large book with a maroon cover. He shuffled over to the corner of one of large couches and switched on the lap before pulling his legs to his chest and burying himself in the story.

This, this moment of getting to see the joy on Clarke's face was the reason Chris brought him to his family's library. There was something special about getting to see his eyes light up at the sight of a new room of knowledge. He loved to watch his eyes close when he smiled, he had one dimple, on the left side of his face that he only ever got to see when he offered him a true smile. He walked in and sat beside his friend. "What are you reading?" he asked leaning against him.

Clarke looked up at him. "Oh um.. I'm not sure yet. I think it's about fairies maybe.. or mythology.." he mumbled. "It's very interesting," he added.

"You're like ten pages in you dork," Chris laughed. "Read to me."

The pair spent the rest of the afternoon, devouring books one by one until Mrs. Lyle returned from work and began to search the house for her son. She first checked his room and when he wasn't there went on to check the backyard. When he wasn't found there either, Stacy Lyle headed into his husband's study. "Steve, where is Chris?" she questioned. "He didn't ask go out."

Steve glanced up with a smile, "Oh he's with his friend. Did you check the library? That boy he likes to talk about at dinner, Clarke? He said he likes to read," he said with a smile.

"Oh the Clarke boy? He's here?" Stacy asked, a grin spreading across her face. "I can't believe we get to finally meet him," she said with a smirk before walking down the stairs and to the library. She opened the door and took out her phone to take a picture of the two boys snuggled up reading as a way to keep this memory to show Chris later. "Dinner time is soon," she announced.

Both boys jumped at the sudden statement, bumping faces in the process. "Oh. Hey mom, we'll be there in a minute," he muttered, still distracted by the book and Clarke.

"Who's your friend?" she asked.

"Oh, this is Clarke Torry," Chris introduced standing up. Clarke closed the book after sticking the string bookmark in between the pages. He then followed his example and gave Stacy a shy smile before turning his gaze to the floor. The floor was comforting when talking to adults, it gave him a reason to keep from making eye contact, and for that he was grateful. Stacy watched Clarke, a wave of concern passing over her. Most of Chris' friends made eye contact and smiled, they usually did their best to stay polite while they talked with her: but this child looked like he would rather be anywhere else than in front of her now.

"It's nice to meet you, are you allergic to tomatoes or anything?" she asked casting a silent spell on Clarke to try and get a read on him.

"No ma'am," Clarke mumbled, shifting his gaze from the floor to Chris for comfort.

"We'll be right there mom," Chris insisted taking Clarke by the hand and taking him upstairs. With that, Stacy went to the kitchen and began a dinner of spaghetti and meatballs. The two boys went upstairs and Clarke sat on the bed biting his nails meekly.

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to be so rude to your mom..." he mumbled. Chris smiled and took Clarke's hands to keep him from chewing his bails bloody.

"It's fine, don't worry about it. Let's go get some good alright?" he reassured dragging him downstairs. "My parents are really nice, they'll love you," he insisted taking Clarke to the kitchen with him. "Hey mom, what's for tonight?"

"Spaghetti and meatballs," she told him, as she talked with her son Clarke looked over her shoulder.

"I don't mind making dinner, as payment for me coming over unexpected." he insisted softly biting his nails. Stacy gasped and gave the small teen a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

"Don't worry about that, you go sit and watch TV with Chris," she said sending the two to the living room. Clarke, with a hint of reluctance followed Chris and sat on the white leather couch with him.

"Thanks for letting me stay..." he said with a smile. "I appreciate it."

Chris grinned and ruffled Clarke's curls, "Don't worry about it Clarkeycakes! Just don't replace me as the favorite around him," he joked with a chuckle.

"I don't know if I can promise that. I'm pretty cute and all, some might even say I'm irresistible," Clarke teased, a large open smile decorating his face.


	18. Get Ready Folks

I hope you folks are ready because I'm rewriting and finishing this entire story tonight


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